US copper futures settle up near top end of range

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures closed higher on
Friday, with spill-over support from rallying equities and a weaker dollar
providing a late lift and held prices up near the top-end of the range.

For detailed report on global copper markets, click on [MET/L]

* Copper for December delivery HGZ9 ended up 2.50 cents at $2.9725 a
lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

* Range from $2.9310 to $2.9745.

* COMEX estimated futures volume at 31,607 lots by 1 p.m. EST (1800
GMT). Final volume on Thursday at 50,816 lots.

* Open interest up 344 lots to 146,932 contracts open as of Nov. 12.

* Price consolidation narrowing. Data-heavy week ahead likely to break
copper out of recent range - Tom Hartman, broker with Altavest Worldwide
Trading in Mission Viejo, California.

* Market attention focused on U.S. October retail sales on Monday, U.S.
consumer and producer price reports, and October housing starts and a key
index on homebuilder sentiment. See [ECI/US]

* Upside price objective for December contract pegged at $3.25, with
downside support seen at $2.90. Break below could spark retracement back to
$2.75 - Hartman.

* London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks up for ninth straight session,
up 1,500 tonnes to 403,625 tonnes, their highest since late April.
<O#LME-STOCKS>

* Shanghai copper inventories edged up 0.6 percent to 104,939 tonnes
from 104,275 tonnes a week earlier. [ID:nSHA117888]

* COMEX copper warehouse stocks surged 1,368 short tons to 69,534 short
tons as of Thursday. CMWSU

* Copper underpinned by broad dollar weakness after data showed U.S.
trade deficit widen by greater-than-expected 18.2 percent in September.
[USD/] [ID:nN12319602]

* Workers at Chile's Spence copper mine threaten to invade
installations and block roads after a month-long strike, accusing owner BHP
Billiton (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) of stalling on contract talks to defuse their
month-long stoppage. [ID:nN12429456]

* Majority of striking 1,500 miners at Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines
(KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc (VED.L) resumed work
on Friday. [ID:nWEA1119]

* The world's biggest copper producer, Chile's Codelco, expects
economic rebound in the United States and Europe to help support demand for
copper next year and sees prices above $2/lb in 2010. [ID:nN13441855]

* LME three-month copper MCU3 ended up $17 at $6,520 a tonne.
(Reporting by Chris Kelly; Editing by John Picinich)